Crossing Boundaries and Learning
As a fieldworker with 'family day care,' I train adults who are approved to care for pre-school and school-age children in their homes. On home visits, I support them in their work and monitor the quality of care.
I put on some classes for carers which we advertised as 'Interacting in Play with Children' and 'Listening to Children.' The first series was for Vietnamese care providers, and later classes were for a mix of Vietnamese and Anglo-Australians. I asked for a commitment to attend all classes and to do some reading and some 'home practice' with a child.
Twenty women came along to the first class. Since six of them were not confident in speaking English, I had my first experience of working with an interpreter. Given the cultural differences and language difficulties, I did not expect everyone to 'get' the ideas I was presenting, and some women did not. However, almost all the women spoke of increased involvement with the children in their care, and everyone seemed to enjoy the closeness and fun of our times together.
The classes turned out to be a great opportunity for community building as well as helping the care providers to focus more on paying attention to children. We played People Bingo, Cat and Mouse, and other lively games. Women of all ages ran around bumping into each other and laughing.
On the first night we had introductions and a panel. I thought the panel would help reinforce the importance of listening and being listened to. We also had listening practice in pairs. I talked about play listening and 'special time,' and I asked the women to try doing 'special time' for fifteen minutes at home with one child and to report on what happened the following week.
The reports in the second class were very interesting! Almost everyone had tried some sort of special time. Many of the carers told stories that showed new flexibility in their interactions in play. They were pleased with themselves and expressed pleasure in learning from each other.
It was quite a discipline listening to so many stories, some of which had to be interpreted. We certainly got a lot of practice at listening without interrupting.
Many good things happened in the classes. Women told their refugee stories-some for the first time. They gained confidence in listening to and talking with others from different backgrounds. In the second lot of classes, an Anglo-Australian woman openly admitted her prejudice and said that she felt sorry she had stayed separate from the Vietnamese women and that she wanted to change. She has since pursued friendships with some of the Vietnamese women and their children.
One night people talked about parenting. I asked them to share their experiences of giving birth and to tell the group how much they loved their children. I discovered later that some of the women stayed in their cars after class, talking until one in the morning. They were very happy about the classes and wanted to go on talking like this.
The best outcome is that I have several lovely friendships with the women. We laugh and joke a lot together. When I go on home visits, it is easier to play with the children because the carers trust me and know more of what I am doing. When the carers heard my contract at work was nearly up, some of them wrote a letter and got everyone to sign. The letter was to my manager, requesting to keep me because of my importance to the multicultural scheme!
At Vietnamese New Year, three of the women came to my home to bring me New Year greetings and a special Vietnamese New Year blossom tree. I asked them about their traditional New Year celebrations, and we all took turns saying what we wanted for the coming year.
So far five women have decided to join my fundamentals class, which starts soon.
Sandy Wilder
Adelaide, South Australia,
Australia